Dubbed the Uniform Notice of Claim Act, the bill would let people suing a local government such as a county, city or school district, file with the secretary of state rather than in the county where the supposed injury took place. It would also standardize the time period within which claims can be filed against some government entities.

Under the current system, if an Albany resident slips and twists his or her ankle on a cracked sidewalk in, say, Schenectady, he or she would have to file a notice of claim in Schenectady County. Under the proposed law, that could be filed with the secretary of state in Albany.

The bill also would have all notices to be filed within 90 days (and the actual lawsuit filings would come within a year).

While the 90-day limit is the case for most jurisdictions, there are confusing exceptions, say supporters.

Those wishing to file a notice, for instance, against the Long Island Rail Road, have 60 days to do so rather than 90 days.

Still, by allowing claims to be filed in one spot, the measure would make it vastly easier for people to sue any number of government entities including schools, public hospitals and even small villages, according to Tom Stebbins, executive director of the Lawsuit Reform Alliance of NY.

"It creates a fill-in-the-box approach toward litigation," he said.

The measure quickly passed with little debate.

"It moved in an hour," said Stebbins, "before we could even write a memo on it."

It passed by votes of 113-13 and 44-16 in the Assembly and Senate, respectively. Lawmakers may have been thinking about a financial hook in the bill — the filing fee would rise from $40 to $250, with half going to the localities.

Despite the additional money, there are other objections.

The Association of Counties fears that the secretary of state wouldn't be able to keep up with the resulting blizzard of paperwork, which would cause legal actions to drag on because people would have to get extensions.

"It's adding another layer to the already layered legal process," said Mark Lavigne, spokesman for the Association of Counties.

Stebbins said the bill, as of Wednesday, hadn't been sent to the governor, who would have to veto or sign it.

Precise figures on how often government entities are sued each year are hard to come by, but most agree it's easily in the thousands.